Eggs Laid by Tigers

Friday, May 08, 2009

DEATH BE NOT PROUD

DEATH BE NOT PROUD

DEATH  not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then;
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

JOHN DONNE

And Death Shall Have No Dominion

And death shall have no dominion. Dead mean naked they shall be one With the man in the wind and the west moon; When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone, They shall have stars at elbow and foot; Though they go mad they shall be sane, Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again; Though lovers be lost love shall not; And death shall have no dominion. And death shall have no dominion. Under the windings of the sea They lying long shall not die windily; Twisting on racks when sinews give way, Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break; Faith in their hands shall snap in two, And the unicorn evils run them through; Split all ends up they shan't crack; And death shall have no dominion. And death shall have no dominion. No more may gulls cry at their ears Or waves break loud on the seashores; Where blew a flower may a flower no more Lift its head to the blows of the rain; Though they be mad and dead as nails, Heads of the characters hammer through daisies; Break in the sun till the sun breaks down, And death shall have no dominion. DYLAN THOMAS  WHAT GIVES RISE TO SUCH SENTIMENTS?   WHAT LEADS WISE MEN TO UTTER SUCH BOLD, DESPERATE ASSERTIONS? DOES ONE NEED TO BE SURROUNDED BY UGLY, HURTFUL DEATH TO PROCLAIM ITS DEFEAT?  Here in our Island Paradise, death isn't urgent, even when imminent.  It comes easy, dropping slow, as a dew, except for lovers, who know well the reasons for Donne's and Thomas' defiance. MAYBE TODAY'S STORY IN TH NEW YORK TIMES YIELDS A CLUE.  PICTURES THAT ACCOMPANY THE STORY TODAY AND YESTERDAY FOLLOW:  [and no, I'm not picking on the US:  plenty of others do much worse; somehow when it's done by us, it feels worse. ______________________       ________________________________________ And no, I haven't forgotten the living, though this pic, of a random guy on an unremembered Hawaiian beach, may be of a guy long gone, too.  Somber day.

Labels: Afghanistan, death, Dylan Thomas, John Donne, Obama, ssshirtless

posted by durell douthit  # 9:48 AM

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